6 Activities To Improve Heart Health

By Joana Adkins, Sep 3, 2018

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Change, of course, is important to living, especially if you have heart disease or you are trying to prevent it. Even a slight shift in blood pressure or cholesterol can prove to be dangerous in certain situations. Furthermore, people who have overcome heart attacks or strokes are told often that they need to be changing habits.

But the thing is no one is going to immediately take up yoga or any kind of cardiovascular activity instantly. It can be too much of a change. Even something as small as changing your diet can be a big challenge. While others can change with ease, others take a little bit longer and need more creative strategies. Below are 6 simple activities to improve the health of your heart.

Take a short walk/work-out session. This can be 10 minutes or 15 minutes. Whatever it is, take some time to at least walk around. You’ll find that you’ll enjoy it more as time goes on, plus it’s a really easy habit to get into.
With regards to working out, it doesn’t have to be much. Even something as short as 10 push-ups, lifting some two-pound weights a few times to help with overall toning of your arms. Once you get used to it move on to heavier items or go to a gym.

Eat extra healthy food per day. Fruits and veggies are generally inexpensive items, taste good, and have a plethora of benefits and nutrients.
On the note of food, you also want to make sure your breakfast counts as well. A good goal to aim for is having breakfast that has a piece of fruit and a serving of whole grains such as oatmeal or whole-wheat toast. Tac on some protein like a small piece of chicken, eggs, or nuts once you start working out more.

While you are eating healthy you want to start cutting back on calories in other areas. One big thing for a lot of us is that we drink sodas and other beverages other than water. Start by making small steps and replace one drink you have with your meal with a glass of water.

Find substitutes. When we have cravings we always have two options. There is a healthy option and an unhealthy one. For example, if you are craving for something salty, we automatically gravitate towards chips. Instead of having that, go for nuts instead. Nuts are significantly better for our hearts as opposed to chips.

Breath deeply and wash your hands regularly. One exercise that we forget about is breathing deeply. This is a great workout for our heart and if we do slow and deep breaths for a few minutes every day, we’ll actually be lowering our blood pressure to more comfortable levels. With washing your hands this helps in protecting your heart and health as many infections such as the flu or pneumonia do affect our heart. By washing away germs from washing our hands we are protecting ourselves from those germs.

Express gratitude. The last thing is to count your blessings or show appreciation for your life by tapping into positive emotions. Positivity has been linked to a variety of benefits such as better health, longer life, along with a greater well being. On the other hand anger, stress, worry, and hostility contribute to higher blood pressures along with heart problems.

Take these activities to mind and heart and start applying them. They aren’t easy, but by taking small steps to achieve these things you’ll be improving the health of your heart.